700 Cubans join Central American caravan traveling on foot to U.S. border
Some 700 Cuban migrants join Central American caravan traveling on foot to US-Mexico border
by Anna Giaritelli
| March 25, 2019 03:20 PM
A new migrant caravan of about 1,500 people, including 700 Cuban citizens, has crossed from Guatemala into Mexico on foot and is expected to arrive at the U.S.-Mexico border in the coming weeks, according to several local reports.
The group is different than previous caravans that have embarked from Central America's Northern Triangle countries because a large number of Cuban citizens have joined the predominantly Central American group of travelers making their way to the U.S., El Universal reported Monday.
Approximately 700 Cubans linked up in southern Mexico over the weekend with migrants fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, a Cuban outlet reported.
Cubans are joining the caravan after Mexico's National Institute of Migration closed its office in the southern state of Chiapas earlier this month, stranding about 2,000 people. The stranded group is legally unable to remain in Mexico, prompting many to instead go with the Central American group in hopes of making it to the U.S. and claiming asylum.
The Mexican office closed after reports its officers were charging up to 1,500 pesos per person for faster admission into Mexico.
A spokesperson for Mexico's National Institute of Migration did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The migrants arrived in Mexico's southernmost state, Chiapas, late last week. While in Tapachula, a city in Chiapas, people organized into a formal "caravan" in order to travel together for safety reasons. Previous caravans have organized in Guatemala and Honduras then embarked on the trip north.
This new group stayed in the town of Huehuetan on Sunday to rest after walking 12 hours in 100-degree heat a day earlier.
They began walking Saturday at 4 a.m. to avoid walking at the hottest point of the day. They plan to walk north to Huixtla on Monday.
Huixtla leader Jose Luis Laparra offered to bus women and children to the next state.
Cipriano Hernandez, the director of civil protection in Chiapas, told Xinhua they refused the offer.
"We're worried about the pregnant women and children, but we respect their decision," Hernandez said.
A priest who runs the Nobody is a Foreigner shelter in Huehuetan said the migrants chose not to take the free buses to the next town because they knew the next town's leader did not want them to stay there overnight.
[Related: New migrant caravan relying on 'Beast' train to get through Mexico for free]
Mexican and international charitable organizations are providing shelter, food, and other types of support to the group.
Government agencies at the local, state, and federal level are not providing any assistance.
The Mexican government has issued more than 1,200 humanitarian visas since December to people seeing work and legal residence in the country.
Tens of thousands of Central Americans have been apprehended each month since last fall while trying to illegally cross from Mexico into the U.S.
Groups advocating for the migrants have said people are forced to illegally enter because Customs and Border Protection is "metering" ports of entry, or only allowing a few dozen people per day to claim credible fear of returning home and commence the asylum process.
Families who enter illegally then claim asylum will not be immediately deported and are instead transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where they can only be held 20 days due to a 2015 court ruling. At that point, families are released into the U.S. and told to appear in court at a future date for their asylum decision.
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